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Published: March 15th 2009
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La Playa de Benidorm
Looking down the beach Yes, I’m still alive, just that this past week has been a busy for me academically, but nothing too interesting occurred, so I didn’t blog.
Lunes 9 marzo 2009- During class today, the movie studio that I auditioned for called me 3 times. The first two times, I was in class, so I didn’t answer but finally they called me when I was between classes. Unfortunately, they had filled the spot for Tuesday afternoon, but still needed someone for an extra for casting on Tuesday and Wednesday. I probably should have done this seeing that it was an excused absence from school and possible a once in a life time opportunity to be an extra in a movie, but I decided not to because I enjoy class and this week I have mid-terms. A friend of mine ended up doing the Tuesday and Wednesday spot and loved it, which made me feel just great, but oh well. After lunch, I had to buy train tickets from Madrid to Alicante for my Lisbon trip because the train is cheaper and faster than the flying. From here, I went and studied with a group of friends at a café. Although this wasn’t
La Playa de Benidorm
Hi Jack, Erica and Jess the most productive time, I did enjoy it. I ended the night skyping with Brady and Will, so a nice end to my day.
Martes 10 marzo 2009- My two hours of Spanish class flew by, so I was excited to meet with my intercambios, but they never showed up. I ended up spending the time printing my tickets and hostel bookings for my upcoming trips. I also ran on the track and went to the gym with two friends before going home. This was tough because my cough made it hard to breathe, so we took it slow and walked more than usual. I did manage to get home a little earlier than I normally do, so I had some time before lunch so, I read a News Sickle Arrow that Mom and Dad had brought me. Although it was over a month old, I really enjoyed reading about the local happenings from home and to read English. My siesta after lunch accidently got a little long, but I made it on time to a cafeteria to meet with two friends to study for our mid-term in my Camino de Santiago class tomorrow. This study group was actually
Dinner
Our wonderful Italian cook really useful because it was a time to bounce thoughts off each other and one of my friends had put a lot of work into studying, so although I felt guilty, she was able to really help me.
Miercoles 11 marzo 2009- The exam in Camino went fine, but like all my exams, I’m not that stressed out because I’m pass-fail. This means that for the credit to go back to Marquette, I only have to get a 5 out of 10 and I can easily do that in all my classes. However, I’m working like I’m not on pass-fail, but unlike back home, I’m not getting stressed about exams because I know that I personally have learned the material, so what grade I get doesn’t really matter. This had lead me to be really relaxed my whole time that I have been in Spain because I get to determine my own performance rating. However, I am a little scared that when I leave the program I’m not going to be even close to fluent in Spanish. Yes, I have come a long way because when I got here I basically knew nothing and I still have a few
Dinner
Testing it out for us. more months, but there is just so much that I need to work on. It would have really helped if I had taken more Spanish classes before I got here so I knew more of the vocab so I could spend more of my time practicing communication instead of memorizing vocab. I am though trying to read Spanish papers in the mornings, met with intercambios twice a week, talk to my host family as much as I can and working hard in my Spanish Classes, but there is just so much to learn and I’m not really a language person. After class, I took a three hour nap to try and let my body recover and fight my cough. At this point, I have been sick for about a week with each day a little better or worse than the one before it. I feel that I must have gotten some germ that my body has never encountered before and is having a tough time dealing with it. I ended the night watching some Champion League futbol game with the family, which was fun.
Jueves 12 marzo 2009- I woke up feeling like crap with nausea and my head
Dinner
We bought and made dinner for 15 people, it wa great. feeling all swelled up, but I knew that I had to go to school because I had my oral Spanish exam. I took the train today because although it cost a little more, there was no way that I would have been able to survive the bus without getting sick. On the oral exam, the listening part was rough, but I actually got a 10/10 on the oral sections, which is the best I’ve ever done. After the exam, I had one of the program directors take me to the doctor on campus. It was an interesting visit because the doctor asked me what hurt and I told him in Spanish and with my hands and then he looked in my mouth before telling the director that I have a virus and the medication that I needed. He also put me on a white diet, so for the next 3 days, I can only eat bread, rice, soup and yogurt and have to take four pills a day and three 15mL shots of this liquid. After going to the doctor, I had to stay on campus for 2 hours before I met with my intercambios, so I slept on the
Brunch
A great way to wake up. grass near some of my friends that were studying. After talking with my intercambios for an hour, which was surprisingly easy seeing that I was feeling so awful; I had some toast for lunch before taking a 6 hour siesta. I woke up in time to listen to the Marquette-Villanova basketball game in which MU lost by 1pt at the buzzer. I tried to study for my Grammar/Writing Spanish exam, but it just wasn’t happening, so I called it an early night and went back to bed. In total, I think that I slept for about 15 hours.
Viernes 13 marzo 2009- I woke up feeling somewhat better, but the exam wasn’t the greatest because I hadn’t put in the time like I should have. After the class, I went to a flamenco dance class that was offered thru my program. I never realized that this was such a passionate dance, but lets just say that I was awful at it, but in a few weekends when I will see a flamenco show in Granada, I will have a better understanding of the dance. After lunch, I headed down to the beach for a few hours because it was in the upper 70’s. I ended the night skyping with a range of people, which is always a good end to a day.
Sabado 14 marzo 2009- I got up early to study for my history exam on Monday because I met about 15 friends at noon to take the tram about an hour up the coast to the town of Benidorm. This city is referred to as the Cancun of the Mediterranean, but in reality, it has a more of a tacky Florida feel and is filled with thousands of old British tourists. I really didn’t like the city, but the beach was beautiful and we ended renting an apartment for the night, which was fun because we made our own super. I ended up spending the night watching BBC shows with a friend that had sprained her ankle earlier in the day, so it was a very chill evening.
Domingo 15 marzo 2009- We slept till about 10:30 before getting up to go for breakfast. I had gotten up a little earlier to study for history and eat the cereal; yogurt and juice that I had brought from Alicante, but it was fun go to a British brunch place before taking the train home. I was only in Benidorm for a little over 24 hours, but it was a really fun vacation that again reminded me that it is the people that make the trip, not the location. At mi casa, I spent the afternoon studying and skyping (and falling asleep for 2 hours by accident) before calling it a night.
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tu madre
non-member comment
what is your temperature?
please let me know if I need to get a flight and come over and take care of you!! sounds like you need to stay in bed for a few days and rest....